Metro Briefing | New York: Oneida: Clues To Train Explosion

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR; Compiled by John Sullivan

Published: March 14, 2007

Federal investigators examining what caused a freight train to derail and explode in central New York State said yesterday that they had discovered a flawed piece of track near the scene of the accident. The investigators, with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that they found the piece yesterday, during the initial stages of their investigation, one day after the train, which was carrying propane from Buffalo to Selkirk, exploded in Oneida. A spokesman for the agency, Keith Holloway, said investigators were examining the derailed cars for any signs of pre-existing flaws and would continue looking for other anomalies on the tracks. CSX Corporation, the train operator, said the company was working to pipe petroleum from some of the derailed cars into a pit where it would be burned. ANAHAD O'CONNOR